Today we unveil the DIY MFA course offerings for September 2010!  I’ve planned it out so that each day we have a different topic.  That way, if only a couple of topics interest you, you can check back on those days specifically.  As you will note, there is nothing scheduled for Fridays.  That’s because Friday will be our Week-In-Review day, when I’ll post highlights from the past week in case anyone needs to catch up.  But enough chit-chat… here are the classes. 

Love of Literature
Mondays
I’m betting that if you’re doing this DIY MFA, you’re pretty big into reading and books.  I’m guessing you have piles of books hiding under your couch, or in the laundry hamper (while your laundry’s on the floor), or even in your freezer.  Who uses a freezer?  It’s just this big yummy box that will keep your books all minty-fresh.  But I digress.  The thing is, doing all this reading willy-nilly doesn’t always serve us writers best.  In Love of Literature we’ll talk about reading with a purpose and making the most of our reading time so that we have time for other fun things, like going to the zoo and petting the sheepies.

Creative Community
Tuesdays
Think of this as a field-study class, where you get to go out into different realms of the writing world.  It’ll be like one big scavenger hunting party.  The object of the game is to search out and custom-design your own unique writing community by cobbling together online networks, professional associations, conferences and other fun writerly events.

Craft-ivity
Wednesdays
This one is all about craftsy goodness.  No, we’re not talking about arts and crafts (oooh, but my knitty fingers so wish we were).  We’re talking about that wonderfully exciting kind of craft that’s all about writing and creativity.  I know it’s crazy to try to cover writing craft in just a handful of weeks, so Craft-ivity will focus just on two basic elements of prose (character and plot) and two basic elements of verse.  I will most likely be enlisting help from a verse specialist so don’t be surprised if we have a guest post or two.

Working the Workshop
Thurdays
No DIY MFA would be complete without a workshop component.  Having been in dozens of workshops myself, I’ll share with you some tips like: finding or forming a good critique group, the Dos and Don’ts of giving and taking critique, and of course the ever-important question: I got my critiques… now what?

Brain Bootcamp
Saturdays & Sundays
This super-intensive approach to creativity will be all about drawing outside the lines, breaking down mental blocks and living the creative life.  Think of this class as a weekend-length creative kick in the backside.

Edit (to add more info): I’m joining this a little late, but I’m so glad I did because I think it’s a fantastic idea! Here’s how it works: you add yourself to the list if you fit the topic of the week, then add the list to your blog by pasting in the code. Then join in the fun! A little about me: I write middle grade fantasy as well as literary middle grade and teen fiction. I’ll also do the occasional story for grown-ups.

That’s right!  We are nearing the beginning of August and with that comes the countdown to DIY MFA in September.  Woohoo!

iggi is in serious back-to-school mode and is already reading ahead in our iggi-books.  See, iggi has never gone to school and is majorly obsessing about this project.  Especially about what to wear… because showing up at iggi U in one’s iggi-suit would be… er… rather inappropriate.

At iggi U, we’ve been preparing the campus for when you join us in September.  We’ve been planning “classes,” putting together an iggi U registration and plotting out details of the DIY MFA challenge.

As you can imagine, iggi’s thrilled.  After all, nothing makes iggi happier than to have a colorful bloggy-badge saying that iggi has graduated from a DIY MFA.  Not only that, iggi can’t wait to (virtually) march with all the other iggi U graduates at Commencement while humming along to Pomp and Circumstance and trying not to trip on the over-sized iggi gown.

Of course, iggi U won’t be just about learning stuff and sharpening our iggi-smarts.  There will also be plenty of opportunities to share ideas and also meet other iggi U tweeps using our #diymfa chat thread.  iggi-tinis are optional (but welcome… especially if you bring one for me).  Because school just isn’t school if you don’t get sent to the dean’s office every once in a while…  And evil-iggi will be getting to know that office all too well.

As the pre-DIY MFA planning continues through August, I’ll be asking you all for feedback on various aspects of DIY MFA, because I want to make sure this September extra-blog-anza is as much fun for you as it will be for me.

Today is a two-for-one special: 1) Have you ever attended, applied to or seriously considered going to an MFA in creative writing?  2) If so, what was your primary motivation for wanting to do it?

This is it: the moment you’ve all been waiting for.  Using a super-secret, super-scientific method, we have a Writing Through the Senses contest winner!

And the winner is…

*drumroll*

*fumbles with envelope*

*drops envelope on the floor*

*more drumroll*

*clears throat*

Thank you to everyone who participated and followed my Writing Through the Senses adventures.

Sonia, please email me your information so I can send you your prize!